Christopher L. Barkau

This study identifies the role of 2'-hydroxyl groups in crRNA for Cas9 DNA binding and develops chemically stabilized crRNAs with enhanced nuclease resistance and editing efficiency.

The paper provides protocols for high throughput sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 genomes using MinION and ARTIC primers, with applicable steps for other platforms.

The paper identifies a new SARS-CoV-2 variant, 20C-US, that emerged in the U.S. in 2020 and became prevalent during the third pandemic wave.